My husband and I will be staying at the Divi in August for 10 days... lots of diving and some horseback riding. Anyone know what I can expect from the Divi Flamingo? We'll be staying in a deluxe room on the ocean.

Hi, Bonnie. You can expect a fabulous time! I've stayed there twice, both times in the deluxe ocean front. Once on the bottom floor, once on the upper floor. Both are outstanding. You have a great spot to watch a sunset, and if you're on the ground level, you can watch the crabs jump around on the rocks right in front of you.

The food at their restaurant, the Chibi Chibi, is very very good. Great views, too.

Dive operation is second to none. Serge does an excellent job and will probably remember your name after one or two chats.

The breakfast buffet is goooood. Pancakes and omlettes made to order and lots of other goodies.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to email me directly. kbaum@newarkohio.net.

Happy Diving !

The north dock and shed is finished. It looks nice! Enjoy the dive deck and hammock chairs! It's another nice place to have drinks and watch the sunsets! Calabas, the house reef, has many dives. You can dive North and South from each of the docks (2), dive North to the South dock and walk back, there is a lot to see on a "sand" dive, and night diving is easy.

I'll let you know when we come back, spending 2 weeks there the end of May.
You are staying in the rooms overlooking the water. Very nice room,stayed there the first time I was introduced to Divi. You can sit on the patio and watch the sunset and fishes.
Love the hammocks and swings under the palm trees.
I am wondering about the expansion of the casino and new bar.
I'll make a report in the middle of June.

Thanks eveyone who replied! Sounds like the Divi is a good pick. My only wish is for a coffee pot in my room. Anyone know is that's possible?

I don't think they have coffee pots for those rooms but breakfast starts at 7 and coffee is only a 30 second walk or so away. They have pots there and you can take one back to the room.

I have been going since 1991 and always enjoy. Just got back a couple of weeks ago. Good time as usual. I always get a second floor ocean front deluxe. Note** I fax a week ahead and ask for second floor and my request has always been honored.

Lorraine, I have watched the timeshare/casino area evolve over the years. I frequent the casino but still would rather the bar be open air. They added some slots and built the walls around it. Bar is the same. When I first started going to the Divi there were no tv's, etc. The casino bar used to run old Sea Hunt shows. It was great. We all sat under this big tree. Everything changes.

Ray

Sadly, I believe the big tree is gone, correct, Ray? We return to the Divi in a few weeks...can't wait! Carole

PS Sea Hunt was my favorite show when I was a kid....next to James Arness with Gunsmoke and Ward Bond with Wagon Train and Palladin, too. Off subject...but I wish the bar would put Sea Hunt back on again!! LOL.

Hi Bonnie,
We will be staying at the Divi from July 30 through August 14. Just booked our flights tonight along with convincing the American Airlines agent to stay at the Divi on her next trip to Bonaire. She's a diver and we had quite the discussion about our favorite dive destinations.
When will you be there? We'll be staying in one of the timeshare units. We just love it! Just can't beat the location. So great being able to walk to town in just a few minutes.

Sue,
I'll be in touch this weekend with information you requested about St. Lucia and Tortola.

Linda

Linda- We may see you then... we arrive August 11th and stay til the 20th and diving with the Divi's dive operator who I hear is just great. We'll have a package with 6 days of 3 tank dives, and will be going out on our own, hopefully for night dives right off the Divi shore and elsewhere through the week.

Look for me. I'll be the one with the $hit-a$$ grin on my face ;-)

Bonnie

Ray- Do you think the second floor is a better room?

Bonnie,

Second floor room is nicer. Big high ceilings. You can ask for a room with a king or 2 doubles. I am 6 feet tall and hang over in a double so I get a king. Also get a safe lock at front desk check in to keep your valuables in.

Ray

Carole,

No tree that I saw. Progress, I guess.

Ray

Bonnie,

We stayed there and it was wonderful. We purchased the Dive & Drive package which included the breakfast.

Nice waking up and having breakfast in the breeze. We stayed in the deluxe oceanview upstairs and we had a coffee pot.

Have fun!

Ida

You made my day, Ida! I LIVE for my morning coffee and I love having it in my room before I have to face the day :-) Is there a patio in these rooms or just a window??

We remember Divi without tvs or phones too.
My husband is a Hockey(not lately) fan and to get the score for the play offs was a challlange back then.
He would look for someone without a tan, who just got in, and ask them if they knew.But they didn't come in every day either so he would wait and watch.We always stayed at least 2 weeks after the first time for awhile then expanded it to 3-4wks later on.
They had one small tv hooked up by the old outside bar and it would most likely be on baseball or soccer and people would just pull up a chair and watch.
To make a phone call home you walked up to the red building just outside of town, it's not there anymore, and made an appointment to come back for and you had to tell them how long.It was thru the international operator.
I met Peter Hughes at a party once and he was on the dive boat too, when he would come to Divi Bonaire once in awhile,when he still had business with it.I just melted in his presence.
I've had the pleasure of meeting Capt.Don more than once and totally enjoy his stories.
I like the way you can go to a place where nothing is ever fast foward, it's easy to just be in Bonaire.
Things change just a little each visit.

There is a balcony to watch the sunsets, the stars and to enjoy the early morning.

Bonnie,

We stayed at the Divi 2 years ago and loved it. We had a deluxe ocean front room on the second floor and it was great. If you ask, they will also put a small refrigerator in your room which can come in very handy. I can't say enough great things about the dive shop and dive masters.

Thanks again, Ray, for taking the time to reply (and with good news). You, too, Shelly. I am thrilled!

Does anybody have a picture of the dock and shed all finished? I am a BIG Bonaire Divi fan :-)

Denise, it's in the recent issue of Bonaire Reporter which is on line. I don't know if it can be copied and pasted onto BT....doubt it.

Otherwise we will have to wait for someone who has taken a pic to post it here.

It does look great! Open format, sort of, with lockers inside, etc. Nice touch. Carole

Denise, I'll be glad to post a picture but you'll have to wait until August!!!

Bonnie, I can wait :-)
I won't get there before then for sure :-(

Bonnie - We just returned from Bonaire last night. We stayed at the Divi in a studio room (kitchen with frige and coffee maker). It was very nice. Breakfast was included in our package and it was well worth it. The new dive dock is great.

We did have a slight problem with the housekeeping staff. Two days in a row they forgot to give us towels (the one thing I want to do after diving all day is shower and waiting for them to bring towels was a bit of a pain). Also, they left our room open...the door was ajar when we got back from diving. We thought for sure we had been burgled, but nothing was missing (including my laptop and camera gear). I called the front desk to request the missing towels and complained about the room being left open. This happened two days before we left, so we just put the "do not disturb" sign out from then on just to be safe.

Thanks for the info, Jeni. I will be sure to get extra towels in advance just in case ;-) I was wondering if the room had a safe.

Any info on the dive operation? I've heard it was really tops. Any restaurant recommendations? Any anything recommendations?

Thanks again for your input.

Bonnie, love your profile pic, you indeed look very happy!

Divi Dive is a first rate dive shop. Everything is run beautifully, you won't be disappointed. Restaurants.... well Chibi Chibi right at the Divi is GREAT! Lots of good stuff within walking distance too. Anything in town (Casablanca, Croccantinos) and if you go south, Richards.

Any anything recommendations -- make sure you do the drive around the south part of the island and end up at Jibe City to watch the windsurfers and get some french fries there and a large pitcher of sangria (they are famous for it). Watch for some flamingos on the way back into town!

Go north through Gotomeer to see the flamingos and onto Rincon to see the indian inscriptions and watch the beautiful shoreline. I could do this for hour upon hour. Rincon market day the first Sat. of the month. Good local stuff !

Check out the Cinnamon Art Gallery in town, as well as Island Fashions, which is the best shop in my opinion ! They have really cool fun things to bring home.

Enjoy the scenery... there is a lot ! Great sunsets... don't forget to go to Bongos to get captured on the webcam! While there, after a great dive, try a pineapple smoothie and a big fat juicy cheeseburger.

Happy diving !!

Thanks for the compliment, Kelly. That picture was taken in the water with my hubby after one afternoon dive in Cozumel when I stripped off my wetsuit and went for a swim behind the boat. What's not to be happy about?? LOL

I simply cannot wait to get to Bonaire. Everything is falling into place. My only worry is Air Jamaica (biting my nails off). There's nothing I can do about it but hope that the gov't has its act together enough to run the airline. It was the easiest, most direct way for us to get to Bonaire. Of course, I didnt realize the company was in trouble until AFTER I booked the flight. Oh well. Hopefully it will be "no problem, mon."

Relax and know that you'll get there eventually! LOL!

Where did you stay in Cozumel? We stayed at the Reef Club and really liked it there.

You will love Bonaire so much. It is so unlike any other place I have been and it feels like home.

By the way, feel free to email me if you have other questions.

We stayed, and have always stayed, at Plaza las Glorias. I understand that it is being renovated and will now be an exclusive, all inclusive resort. :-)~ That stinks for us, because we hate all inclusives.

I've always booked by dive trips with Bay Adventures at http://www.bayadventures.com/ It's run by a guy names Al and his partner Felix out of Miami and they are just the nicest, best guys. Anyway, he just added Bonaire to his repertoire so I immediately jumped on that opportunity. Hopefully this will become like Cozumel was for us. We just got tired of the diving there... same ole same ole. But, while it lasted, it was a great vacation.

Bonnie, Bonaire is nothing like Cozumel. It is very quiet and the downtown is wonderful, low-key, QUIET shopping. That was something I despised about Cozumel, too loud and too many people.

You will have a nice quiet vacation.

It sounds like the perfect mix! I will be sure to post my impressions when we return. And if it's as great as everyone says, I'm sure we'll be back. That's what makes it a vacation, which is different from a "trip."

Ohhhh, Kelly, I couldn't agree with you more. Island Fashions is just the best!!! I do the cutest island/beach/ocean Christmas tree every year and I've gotten so many great ornaments there. Have also gotten wonderful jewelry (love the beach glass pieces) and fashions. Every year I can't wait to visit the shop to see what's new. (My husband bears patient witness to this.)

Linda, they are now online, in case you didn't know it. You can order now from their website, it's fabulous !! I picked up a great pair of seaglass earrings my last trip.

Bonnie, if you want more info on Divi, go to their web site. There are pictures of the dive staff and the Divi grounds. It's a nice site.

I took these pictures in March when they were still working on the Dive Shed. The new stairs are really nice but be careful because they are very slippery! I knew they were slippery and still took a slide!

Thanks, Darlene! Can't wait to be there! Lorraine and Jim are in the air right now on the way to Bonaire for three weeks. We will see them in two! Carole

Hi-
Can someone share the difference between an ocean view room, and the studio rooms? Is one better than the other, etc? We're in a studio room, and it has a kitchenette, so that's a plus for me, but will we be close to the ocean, and do we have a patio/balcony? THANKS SO MUCH!

I havent been there yet, so I cannot answer first hand... but maybe Divi's website can help shed some light. http://www.diviflamingo.com/diviflamingo/accommodations.asp

The Divi site posted by Bonnie is a good place to look. Deluxe Ocean View rooms as you can see are right on the water. They face the setting sun and have balconies. I really like them. I prefer second floor.

If a kitchenette is a plus for you I doubt you will be unhappy. Those rooms are near but not on the water.

Ray

When you say studio room, I assume you mean the time share units because it has a kitchenette. I have stayed in both. The time share over looks the pool area and is near the water and has some view of the ocean. The neat thing about the time share is if you are on the second floor, you just want down the stairs and you are on the dive dock! Very convenient. I also loved the rooms on the water. You could watch the fish and crabs right from your room as well as the sunsets!

here's the north pier finished

We have a timeshare at Divi Flamingo, they are the same as the studio. There is no difference between a studio and timeshare unit. And I'm sure my timeshare unit has been rented as a studio.

The ocean view rooms are just like hotel rooms with a view of the ocean. They are set back, and you'd have to walk around the pool and the ocean front rooms to get to the water. The studios will also have a view but are usually closer to the ocean. If you need the kitchenette, you want the studio, and you will not be disappointed. It's hard to judge distance, but I'd guess the closest studio is about 40 feet from the ocean, and the farthest studio might 400-500 feet away. All have easy entry into the water.

There are two level to the studio. Each room has a screened in patio facing the water. The ground floor units are nice, because you have enter the room via the patio or the back of the unit. The 2nd floor rooms are nice, although you can't enter via the patio, there is more privacy. I've stayed on both levels, and have been happy with each.

Last year when we were there, our room was in good condition, but friends room needed some maintenance. I think they should have asked for a different room, but they stayed in the room. I've have found that the Divi staff wants to help, just ask them.

Thanks for the studio room advice. I don't think it's a timeshare, I think we just rented studios as part of a package. I hope it's ok. So from everyone's advice, I'm assuming the ground levels are ok. I really appreciate everyone's advice.

Nondivergirl,

the studio rooms and timeshare rooms are the same; Divi rents the timeshare rooms (if the owners aren't using it) as "studios"...we prefer the first floor rooms so we can walk out the patio door and jump into the water (either pool or ocean)...the second floor rooms offer more privacy but you have to deal with going up and down steps

Gregg- So if we are getting an 'owner rented' room, will it be as clean as the hotel rooms? Who is responsible for the maintenance of the timeshare rooms that are rented by the Divi? Just curious!

Also, is there a way to request a ground floor room?

Thanks for your advice!

Nondivergirl,

Just so you understand, Divi owns all the rooms...these are timeshare rooms, not individual condos..."timeshare" at Divi simply means that we have purchased the right to stay in a particular room for a particular week during the year...these are not deeded timeshares like those in the U.S....hence, you will receive the same cleaning service and maintenance as all other rooms on the site...the Divi staff will go to extra means to make your stay terrific...if you need something, just ask at the desk

Unfortunately, if you don't "own" the room for the week, you can't be gauranteed to get a specific room..(that's one of the reasons we buy the "timeshare" to ensure which room we get)...however, I suggest you send an email to the Divi Flamingo and ask that they try to keep a first floor room for you...

BTW, we prefer to have rooms 701-706...first floor closest to the pool and ocean...try to avoid 711 since it is in the farthest corner adjacent to the icemaker